Rupiah fires Chanda, Kambikambi

Rupiah fires Chanda, Kambikambi
Written by George Chellah
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:34:52 AM

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has instructed Vice-President George Kunda to terminate the membership of African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) National Governing Council chairperson Tamala Kambikambi and spokesperson Amos Chanda over their uncompromising stance on Post news editor Chansa Kabwela's case. Kabwela is facing a charge of circulating two obscene pictures with a view to corrupt public morals, contrary to the laws of Zambia.

The termination of the duo's membership from the APRM National Governing Council follows Kambikambi's apology to The Post in her capacity as Zambia National Women's Lobby (ZNWL) board chairperson where she stated that the ZNWL reacted based on information given to them by sources who did not have full details of the story.

Highly placed sources at State House yesterday disclosed that Vice-President Kunda was under pressure from President Banda to terminate the membership of Kambikambi and Chanda from the APRM National Governing Council. The sources revealed that a named State House aide had been meeting some named leaders from the NGOCC and Women for Change (WfC) following Kambikambi's apology to The Post.

The sources said the named aide in conjunction with the named leaders from the NGOCC and WfC lobbied President Banda to ensure that Kambikambi and Chanda were dismissed because they felt that Kambikambi's apology had destroyed or dismantled their court case against The Post. Chanda had also issued press statements on Kabwela's arrest urging the police not to act on instructions but allow the due process of the law to take its course. Chanda is further alleged, by the named State House aide, to have been the brain behind Kambikambi's letter of apology to Kabwela.

Recently, the ZNWL apologised to Kabwela over a letter the organistion sent to her in which they complained about the pictures of a woman in labour that were sent to Vice-President Kunda during the protracted strike by health workers.

In a letter dated July 16, 2009 signed by Kambikambi, ZNWL stated that the complaint letter was written without the full understanding of the facts behind the matter.

"I refer to our letter dated 26th June in which we registered our displeasure of the photographer who took the picture of the woman who was in labour. It has come to our attention that we wrote the letter in the absence of full facts concerning the matter," Kambikambi stated. "Now that we have the facts, we want to commend you for the courage you took to alert the necessary persons and organisations on the plight of women in the wake of the strike by the health workers. It is for this reason that we write again to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and anguish the letter may have caused to you."

Kambikambi stated that the women's movement would instead support the newspaper for its courage in promoting women's values.

"As an organisation that promotes the advancement of women in decision making, we want to stand in support for you and salute you for the great leadership and courage you exhibited during this trying time. On behalf of the members, board and staff of the Zambia National Women's Lobby, kindly accept my deepest apologies," Kambikambi stated.

And in another letter to the Press Freedom Committee of The Post, Kambikambi stated that the ZNWL reacted based on information given to them by sources who did not have full details of the story.

"...We would like to apologise unreservedly. We made that complaint based on information provided to us by sources that did not have the full details of the story. But now, having gotten information on the facts of the matter, we realise that we erred in our decision and that the whole essence of the matter was to push improvement of the women's access to health care - especially maternal health care. This is a cardinal issue if the socio-economic development of this country is to be advanced," she stated. "For this reason we want to commend the Post Newspaper for having selectively circulated pictures portraying the plight of women in the wake of the strike of the health workers to persons and organisations that they believed would have helped solve the impasse so as to ensure women did not continue to suffer the absence of adequate health care."

Kambikambi also saluted Kabwela for the courage she had exhibited over the condemnation she had received on the pictures.

"We want to salute the courageous Ms Chansa Kabwela who has exhibited great leadership despite the immense pressure that she has been subjected to. As an organization that promotes the advancement of women in decision-making, we want to commend the Post Managing Editor [Post Editor-in-Chief] Mr Fred M'membe, for having appointed a young and courageous woman journalist of such exemplary character. We need such women to help develop this country," Kambikambi stated.

On June 16, 2009, the ZNWL wrote a complaint letter to the Press Freedom Committee of The Post chairperson over the pictures of a woman in labour that were sent to them.

The pictures were sent to Vice-President George Kunda and copied to the Minister of Health, Secretary to the Cabinet, NGOCC, WfC and the Archbishop of Lusaka.

The women's movement complained that the pictures were depressing to all women in the country.

"We write to register our complaint over the photographer who took pictures of a woman giving birth. We would like to mention that as women, we are deeply disturbed that the dignity of women is being undermined in the name of press freedom. While we are in support of press freedom and the right to information, we feel that circulating pictures that demean women is a transgression of women's right to privacy," the letter stated. "The pictures were not only depressing to the victim, but to all women in the country. We therefore call on our colleagues in the media not to allow the dignity of women to be tarnished by one single individual who did not pay attention to the negative implication the picture had on women."

And sources at State House yesterday further disclosed that following President Banda's directive, Vice-President Kunda had written to Kambikambi and Chanda, informing them of the decision to terminate their membership from the council.

"His Excellency, the President feels so strongly about Chansa's case. I am sure you know that even during the last press conference here at State House he spoke at length against the issue of those pictures, which he actually described as pornography. Therefore, any comments that are seen to be undermining Chansa's case as well as His Excellency's strong feelings over that issue, he is not taking them lightly," the source revealed. "So it's against this background that His Excellency saw it prudent that Tamala and Amos' memberships and executive functions from the APRM National Governing Council be withdrawn. What this basically means is that Tamala and Amos cease to be chairperson and spokesperson respectively of the APRM National Governing Council respectively."

The sources said President Banda had taken keen interest in Kabwela's case.

"But for obvious reasons you will not get this explanation from anybody including the Vice-President himself. That's why even in the letter written to them, he is just saying that they have decided to reorganise the council," the source said. "They have also said that they have taken the decision to withdraw the duo's membership and executive functions from the National Governing Council after taking into consideration other factors. I must say the factors they have taken into consideration have not been stated."

When contacted yesterday, Chanda confirmed receiving the letter but referred all queries to the appointing authority.

Kambikambi could not be reached for comment by press time.

In an interview with Radio Phoenix last Wednesday, Kambikambi maintained that her organisation would support Kabwela because she did not publish the pictures of the woman in labour but instead sent them to a few selected eminent individuals in the country.

Kambikambi said the ZNWL had seen the issue in a different way, saying Kabwela had felt for the women and that is why she never published the pictures in the newspaper.

Kambikambi said the ZNWL would support Kabwela because she felt for the women who suffered during the period of the protracted strike.

"So we just want to tell you that we will support the young lady because she felt for the women who were suffering and she felt that was a way in which she could agitate those who could make certain decisions," said Kambikambi. "We know that there are colleagues who felt the means did not justify the end."

And just after Kabwela's arrest, the Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) whose vice-president is Chanda together with other media bodies observed that the arrest and subsequent charging of Kabwela would set a bad precedent.

"The Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA), Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) And the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia would like to urge the government and Members of Parliament to amend the law on obscenity in order for the said law to define in clear terms what constitutes obscenity and matters that can corrupt morals," they stated. "Currently Section 177 makes it an offence to be in possession of, or circulation of obscene material. However, this law does not define what constitutes obscene matter. It simply makes the offence punishable through imprisonment up to five years. However, the law is too broad and it leaves to the discretion of the person in authority to determine what constitutes obscene material.

"As media associations, whose membership is drawn from media practitioners, we wish to urge government and indeed our law makers to amend these laws that impinge on press freedom by clearly defining what constitutes obscenity. Currently under this law, journalists are operating in grey areas that are not clearly defined."